Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and the backlash against sexual harassment he spawned led to a raft of new state workplace laws that will take effect Jan. 1.

“#MeToo was a dominating topic at the Capitol this year,” said Jennifer Barrera, an executive vice president with the California Chamber of Commerce.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed eight bills this year aimed at preventing sexual and other forms of harassment on the job and promoting gender diversity on boards.

SB826 got the most attention. It requires any publicly traded company that has its principal executive office in California to have at least one female director by the end of 2019, even if it has to expand its board to make room. By the end of 2021, these companies must have at least two women on five-member boards and at least three women on boards with six or more directors.

While Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, has been outspoken about getting more women in positions of power, she is one of only two women on Facebook’s board. The company would have to add more by the end of 2021 under California’s new boardroom mandate.

Photo: Eric Thayer / New York Times

Of the 457 public companies in the Russell 3000 stock index that are headquartered in California, 94 had no female directors and 161 had just one as of Sept. 30, according to Equilar, a board research and consulting firm.

More than minimum wage

California’s statewide minimum wage rises to $12 from $11 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees and to $11 from $10.50 per hour for those with fewer employees. Some cities have higher minimum wages including these in the Bay Area.

City

Minimum wage 1/1/2019

Belmont

$13.50*

Berkeley

15.00

Cupertino

15.00*

El Cerrito

15.00*

Emeryville

15-15.69

Los Altos

15.00*

Milpitas

13.50

Mountain View

15.65*

Oakland

13.80*

Palo Alto

15.00*

Redwood City

13.50*

San Francisco

15.00

San Jose

15.00*

San Leandro

13.00

San Mateo**

15.00*

Santa Clara

15.00

Sunnyvale

15.65*

*Represents an increase from Dec. 31, 2018. Some cities have increases that take effect midyear.

**San Mateo has a lower rate for nonprofit employers, it goes up to $13.50 on Jan. 1.

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“Unless it’s challenged (in court), California-based public corporations will have to do some work to get women on boards by compliance deadlines,” said Kristina Launey, a partner with law firm Seyfarth Shaw, which represents employers.

The law’s second phase will have a bigger impact that the first. “It almost has to get to gender even, which would be a significant change,” said Chaya Mandelbaum, an attorney with Rudy, Exelrod, Zieff & Lowe who represents employees.

The widest ranging new law, SB1300, has numerous provisions to curb workplace harassment of all kinds, not just sexual.

One significant provision prevents employers from requiring a worker to sign two types of documents as a condition of getting or keeping a job or landing a raise or bonus. One is an agreement not to sue or bring a claim against the employer under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which outlaws discrimination on the basis of age, gender, race or other protected status. The other is a nondisparagement agreement or other document that prohibits the employee from disclosing information about unlawful acts in the workplace, including but not limited to sexual harassment.

This new law is “trying to get at employers who offer something valuable to keep quiet,” Launey said.

It does not, however, apply to severance agreements nor to negotiated agreements that settle cases filed in court, administrative proceedings or arbitration.

SB820, on the other hand, applies specifically to settlement agreements that resolve civil or administrative claims of sexual misconduct, but not other workplace violations. It prohibits clauses in such agreements that prevent the disclosure of facts related to the case, except for the amount paid and the identity of the person who filed the claim if that person wants to remain anonymous. It does not require that such settlements be made public.

This law applies to public and private employers, including the Legislature, which had its share of harassment claims swept under the rug.

“As we have clearly seen over the last few months, secret settlements serve one primary purpose: to keep sexual predators away from the public eye and continuing to torment and hurt innocent victims,” its author, Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), said in a news release. She cited Weinstein, co-founder of the Miramax and Weinstein Co. film studios, and former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes as inspirations for her bill. Both reportedly settled multiple sexual harassment claims by women who agreed to keep them secret.

One argument against the bill was that it could lead to smaller early settlements in some sexual harassment cases. Some employers “are willing to place a premium on settling confidentially,” Mandelbaum said.

Barrera added that “not all cases, from the employer’s perspective, have merit.” Some employers will settle cases confidentially to protect their reputations and limit the potential cost. If allegations can be made public, “you might see fewer cases settling and more going to court,” she said.

Mandelbaum pointed out an ambiguity in these two disclosure laws. SB1300 says you cannot, as a condition of a raise, bonus or employment, require employees to sign a nondisparagement agreement, but this law does not apply to settlements. SB820 applies to settlements, but it does not prevent nondisparagement clauses, only nondisclosure clauses.

A nondisparagement clause has no legal definition. It usually says the employee agrees not to say anything disparaging or demeaning about the employer, its products or employees that would be likely to negatively impact the company. Conceivably, an employer could try to discourage employees from disclosing the facts underlying a sexual harassment settlement by including a broad nondisparagement clause. “I think (the ambiguity) may require judicial or legislative clarification,” Mandelbaum said.

On the prevention front, SB1343 expands the number and type of employees who must be subjected to sexual harassment training. Under current law, employers with 50 or more employees must give supervisors two hours of sexual harassment training every two years. Starting in 2019, employers with five or more employees must provide two hours of training to supervisors and one hour to all other employees within six months of their hire (or promotion to supervisor) and every two years thereafter. Temporary and seasonal employees must be trained within their first 30 days or 100 hours, whichever comes first.

The training can be in person or online, and it must be interactive.

Starting in 2020, employers must also provide this type of training to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. This law requires the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing to develop an online training course in multiple languages and make it available on its website.

AB2338 requires talent agencies to give their adult artists educational materials on sexual harassment prevention, nutrition and eating disorders. Clients who are ages 14 to 17 (and their parents) also must complete training in sexual harassment prevention and reporting.

AB3082 requires the Department of Social Services to develop or identify educational materials addressing sexual harassment of in-home supportive services providers and recipients.

SB970 requires that certain hotel and motel employees get training to identify and respond to human trafficking by Jan. 1, 2020. Under a similar bill, AB2034, by Jan. 1, 2021, certain employees of passenger rail, light rail and bus stations must receive such training.

Brown signed more than a dozen bills on other workplace subjects. One clarifies an important law that took effect this year that prohibits employers from asking about a job applicant’s prior salary and requires them to provide the applicant a pay scale for the job upon request. AB2282 says that employers can still ask about an applicant’s “salary expectations,” that the pay scale can be a range and that only external applicants (not current employees) can get a pay scale upon request, and only after completing an initial interview.

Finally, under a law passed in 2016, the statewide minimum wage will go up every year through 2023. In 2019, it rises to $12 from $11 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees and to $11 from $10.50 for smaller employers. Some cities have higher minimum wages, including at least 17 in the Bay Area.

Kathleen Pender writes the Net Worth column in The San Francisco Chronicle. She explains how the big business and economic news of the day affect a household's net worth. She covers saving, investing, debt, taxes, housing, mortgages, retirement plans, employment and unemployment with a focus on issues specific to California and the Bay Area.

When it comes to big financial decisions, she believes that the simplest answer is almost always the best and that people would stay out of money trouble if they didn't get involved in things they can't understand. Pender welcomes questions from readers and frequently answers them in her column.

She majored in business journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in business journalism at Columbia University.